Alrighty then. Wow, nostalgic! It’s certainly been quite a while, but I suppose I’m ready to return to the blogging world. My troubles since last time have cleared up immensely, something I’m quite proud of. First off, some news and sightings in the baby-naming world:

• Nameberry‘s post on Lost Names of the 1880s is quite interesting — Lulie, Ara, and Gracia certainly intrigue me, and I’ll keep pushing for someone to use Araminta. Check out the Lost Boys’ Names, too, and look at Newt, Leander, Sterling, and the disappointing Pink and Oral.

• As you’ve all heard already, Joel Madden and Nicole Richie have had their second child, a boy named Sparrow James Midnight. But apparently, Madden was influenced by Johnny Cash’s A Boy Named Sue, so much so, that he named his son Sparrow with the sole purpose of his son getting teased, and subsequently toughening up. Chalk one up for bad parenting!

• Check out Verity’s posts over at Appellation Mtn. for info on Patience, Cohen, Pilar, and Alaric.

• And would you believe that Christmas is just over a month away? How the time flies! 2010 is almost upon us, and that means a whole new year of naming, and, of course, the stats for 2009’s most popular baby names! Is it too early to make a countdown?

• And because Christmas is very nearly here, it means the month with Holly as the most popular baby’s name is too. I like to call these the Holly-days!

Now, since it’s been a while, some of my favorites on my list have been changed and/or revised. Time to list the list!

• James Daniel is still my favorite for a boy, but we have a new runner-up: Leo Michael. Leo is a diminutive of my grandpa’s name, Leonard, but with a spunkier quality than the longer form (Or Leopold, Leonardo, or Leonidas, for that matter). Yes, I’m aware that this seemingly negates my whole “No nicknames as names!” stance, but to be fair, Leo sounds like a whole-ish name. Anywho, my still-short boy’s list includes Nikolai, and even Jude as a middle name to honor what is quite possibly my favorite song in the stratosphere, Hey Jude.

• And, while we’re on the subject, there are some nicknames that, to me, work just fine, like Molly, for example.

• I’d like to take this time to plug one of my very favorite websites related to baby naming: bigbadbabynames.net, otherwise known as Baby’s Named a Bad, Bad Thing. There are some sassy, sassy ladies (and gentlemen) over there who have a few things to say about sparkleigh pryncess tryndee-licious names, and we have annual troll roasts, too! I’m over there as plain Mookie, so come join me and make a bunch of new friends as we squee at the babies in photowhores!

I suppose that’s it! Also stay tuned as I change the format of my site, and backtrack on some things I’ve missed throughout my absence. To my faithful followers who have continually checked my site in vain for updates, I apologize, and I love you dearly. (Well, I’d be willing to give you a cyber-hug and maybe a virtual pat on the back.) Goodbye for now!